Stina’s Message

The Festival is almost here! Please bring your friends. It will be a very nice concert, and sushi and treats on the Cathedral Plaza after the concert. There will be some new performers, and many that you have seen before. Some people have asked why we are giving the money away instead of using it for our church. This is our “give back” to the community, in gratitude for their strong support of us. It is a powerful gesture to be able to give, and we are in a position to be able to do that. As usual, we will not have church that morning. You are invited to stay for the Cathedral’s evening Eucharist at 6:00.

The Wild Goose Festival was held in North Carolina, outside of Asheville in the Appalachian mountains, and I attended with my family. It was great to have the time with the family, but it was also a “work” vacation. The Festival looks at the convergence of spirituality and justice, and the many workshops lifted up ways that we need to address the world from a spiritual perspective. It was both challenging and envigorating. I’m sure it will be affecting my preaching for months to come.

There are two activities coming up that I want to lift to your attention: the Bishop’s visitation and Dr. Hinohara’s visit.

Bishop Marc will visit us on September 8 at our regular service. It is important that as many members as possible attend. There will be a nice coffee hour after church, but not a luncheon.

Dr. Shigeaki Hinohara, resident physician at St Luke’s Hospital in Tokyo, will be giving a lecture on healthy aging at St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday, October 13 at 2:00. SKK and JARF are sponsoring the event. That morning at 10:30, we will have our Tri-Church World Communion Sunday at Pine UMC, and he will be the preacher. We hope you will come to both the service at Pine and the lecture. Both the sermon and the lecture will be translated into English.

~ Stina

BC NOTES

Because Stina was at Wild Goose, the BC meeting was postponed to Aug 18, and the group reviewed Festival questions. The Festival: the beneficiaries are the Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program at Rosa Parks, EAM, and Jikeikai-Benevolent Society; Gordon is the General Manager, Stina is the Stage Manager, taking care of performers and the program, Tamae is doing the translation, the letter and tickets have been mailed out and tickets are available online, Gordon and Keiko are taking care of the food, Myrna will coordinate the table decor, Kuni will coordinate the ticket table, Don Umemoto will coordinate the ushers, Lisa Tsukamoto will be the MC, and Mary Vargas, Satoko and Wendy are doing publicity.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Bishop’s Visit – September 8, 10:00 regular service at SKK
• Dr Hinohara and Tri-Church World Communion – October 13, 10:30 service at Pine, lecture at 2:00

Please put all of these on your calendars and pass the word!!

OLD MEMBER NEWS!

Many old members of our church remember Mrs. Nancy Oyama. She was very active member of our Sei Ko Kai, as well as Grace Cathedral. One day, I met Rodger Oyama, Nancy’s son. Rodger told me that his mother, Nancy, is back in San Francisco in the Central Garden Convalescent Home, located at 1355 Ellis Street. In May 2013, Rev. Stina, Ms. Kuni Koga and I, visited Nancy. She didn’t recognize or remember us but she looked physically well. Rev. Stina prayed for her. Nancy is 91 years old. It was a nice visit.

I recently received a letter and a photo from Elizabeth Kaminer. She and her son, Reily, were very faithful Episcopalians, attending Sei Ko Kai practically every Sunday during the time they were living in San Francisco. Reily was baptised in our church. After he was baptised, we all were invited at their home to celebrate. They lived about two and a half block from Sei Ko Kai. We all had a wonderful time.

As Reily grew, he attended Grace Cathedral Boys School and joined the the Boys Choir. Reily also attended our Sunday School. Because his father’s job was in New York, they eventually moved there. Now, Reily is a tall handsome young man and is heading for the University in Scotland. Elizabeth remember us very fondly and wishes us all in Sei Ko Kai with love and good wishes. Some day she hope to visit us all.

Sincerely, Ryoko

SPECIAL THANKS
To Carl for getting the new table set up and organized for the electronic piano, and for coordinating the back door replacement.

To Gordon for all of the behind-the-scenes work on the Festival, and for getting the audit prepared and done.

To everyone who has worked on making the Festival happen!

THE LAST WORD
I will be beside you in the night watches, when what is to come seems so uncertain, and what has been seems so shadowed. I will wait with you to see if we see, faint stars far away, a glimmering moon on the distant hillside, any light at all coming our way. I will pray your prayer until it becomes our prayer and winds its way out into the darkness to mingle with all the prayers of all the nights of all our lives, the darker rivers of hope, deeper still for their longing. Yes, I will be beside you. Bp Steven Charleston

MESSENGER’S NOTES

The Messenger will strive to provide:

1. Information regarding events of significance to the whole congregation.

2. Information regarding the customs and practices of the Protestant Episcopal Church, USA and of our Nikkei community.

3. Information regarding efforts made to advance the program goals established by the Vicar, Bishop’s Committee as the goals themselves are made known.

4. Information regarding events relevant to the mission of the church.

The Messenger will not list individual monetary gifts or donations as it has no direct access to such information. However, donors will be acknowledged as their names are provided. Institutional grants for project goals of the Mission will be acknowledged as a part of information regarding the programs themselves.